§ 6962. Powers and duties; reports

(a) The Team shall develop and implement policies to ensure that it uses uniform procedures to review the deaths of vulnerable adults in Vermont.

(b)(1) The Team may review the death of any person who meets the definition of a vulnerable adult in subdivision 6902(14) of this title and:

(A) who was the subject of an adult protective services investigation; or

(B) whose death came under the jurisdiction of, or was investigated by, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

(2) The Team shall not initiate the review of the death of a vulnerable adult until the conclusion of any active adult protective services or law enforcement investigation, criminal prosecution, or civil action.

(3) The review shall not impose unreasonable burdens on health care providers for production of information, records, or other materials. The Team shall first seek to obtain information, records, and other materials from State agencies or that were generated in the course of an investigation by the Adult Protective Services Division, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, or law enforcement.

(4) The Team shall establish criteria for selecting specific fatalities for review to ensure the analysis of fatalities occurring in both institutional and home- and community-based settings.

(c)(1) Beginning in 2018, the Team shall submit an annual report to the General Assembly on or before January 15.

(2) The annual report shall:

(A) summarize the Team's activities for the preceding year;

(B) identify any changes to the Team's uniform procedures;

(C) identify system gaps and risk factors associated with deaths reviewed by the Team;

(D) recommend changes in statute, rule, policy, procedure, practice, training, or coordination of services that would decrease the number of preventable deaths in Vermont's vulnerable adult population; and

(E) assess the effectiveness of the Team's activities. (Added 2015, No. 135 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)